Hotels in Hua Hin, Cha-Am feel impact

Andreas Pfister, general manager of the InterContinental Hua Hin Resort, said yesterday that the area was very quiet now. Hotels are missing a lot of bookings, both foreign and domestic.
The weekend of October 22-23 was very busy as people deserted Bangkok for relatively safe Hua Hin, he said.
“Our occupancy jumped 40 per cent on top of what we had earlier. I believe this was a mix of guests who spend their weekends in Hua Hin and Cha-Am and those who escaped the flooding,” he said.
After that weekend, business slowed down and hotels are reporting more empty rooms.
The InterContinental Hua Hin Resort now has a shorter international market in October while November is not too busy with international guests.
The hotel has informed its guests about the possibility of a roadblock and is giving them up-to-date information on their departures.
“Besides some delays, everyone could depart and arrive at the hotel without big problems.
“Thus, the impact on cancellations from the international sector was not so great, but more from domestic guests for leisure and business,” he said.
The cancellations have cost millions of baht in lost revenue.
The hotel hopes that businesses that had cancelled out would reschedule their meetings after the flooding is under control and daily life gets back to normal.
The international news on the flooding was not very positive for Thailand. Many travel warnings have been issued.
It is important to get the word out that the main roads are getting cleared quickly and the international airport will not be affected, to bring international travel back on track, he added.